Growing (Tape 7)

Transcription

Do you like to do new things? Do you ever think about how much more you can do now than when you were a little baby? You can do lots of things now that you couldn’t do then. And sometimes do you just feel all good inside because you’re doing something new? Isn’t it a good feeling to be able to do more than you ever thought you could?

You know, one thing to feel good about is growing. Growing on the outside and growing on the inside. Learning something new is a way of growing. When you’ve learned a thing that’s new, you can really feel proud of yourself. Of course, sometimes before you try something that’s new, it can seem scary to you. Scary because maybe you won’t be able to do it. Or scary because you’re afraid of changing. But when children aren’t sure they want to try something new, there are grown-ups and other children who would really like to help. Then trying a new things isn’t so lonely.

I was thinking, if you made up a story about yourself, that would be your history. Story. History. And everybody has a history. I was born a baby boy and I needed a lot of help then. All I could do for myself was cry and suck milk and wet my diapers and sleep. And my parents helped me to grow. And I came to know who they were and sometimes even smiled at the things they did. And I grew to be a bigger boy. Then I could do more things than when I was a baby. I learned to eat by myself and to walk around and to talk. And as I grew, I used to see children who were going to school and I wondered if I would ever be able to go to school. After a while, I grew older and I was able to go to school. And after I got bigger, I was able to help other people. That’s a mighty important part of growing. And, of course, that’s part of my story. My history.

Your story is your history. Your history of learning and doing new things. And there are many helps that children can have in learning to do new things. If it’s hard to make your legs go the way you want them to, braces can be helpful. If you can’t see very well, glasses can be helpful. If you don’t see at all with your eyes, you can use your fingers and the sound of other people’s voices to help you learn the things you want to do. A hearing aid is another special help for people who have trouble hearing.

Growing for everyone means to try things that are new. You and I both work at our growing. It makes us able to think new thoughts and helps us understand more and more about our feelings. Learning to tell when you’re scared or when you’re sad or when you’re angry is all a big part of growing.

Being with other people is a way of growing, too. You can learn from them and they can learn from you. It’s the people in the world who are really important. And all people need help to grow. That’s true, you know. Everybody needs some kind of help for growing.

There may be times when you wonder about why you’re different from other children. Well, everybody wonders about things like that. And there’s some things about ourselves that are really hard to understand. Many children who have a handicap think they got that way by doing something bad. Well, that’s just not true. People don’t get blind by seeing a bad thing. They don’t get deaf by hearing a bad thing. No. Some people are just born with a handicap. And other people might have a handicap because of an accident or because one time they were very very sick. Handicaps just don’t have anything to do with being bad. That’s something you can be really sure about.

Talking and singing about important things is a way to begin to understand them.

You know, the important thing to understand is that you’re one person. Even if you wish sometimes that your body was different. If parts of you aren’t exactly like other people, you are still one person. On the inside and on the outside. You’re a person who is growing and learning to do new things.

There’s a song about growing all in one piece I sometimes like to sing with my friends. It goes like this.

And it’s a good feeing to know you’re growing. You know that even though their bodies are not getting bigger, grown-ups are still working at growing inside. Children like you help me to work at growing inside. You always make our visits a special time for me. You know how, don’t you? By just your being you. And it’s a good feeling to know about friends like you.